SGPC members plea
to CMCHANDIGARH,
Jan 9  For the feuding Akalis another issue has
emerged. Now the bone of contention is the Sikh Gurdwara
Judicial Commission. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr
Parkash Singh Badal, is busy consulting legal experts to
defend his action to remove the Chairman and two members
of the commission and come out with a strong case.

PM
to open Thein dam on Feb 12
PATIALA, Jan 9  Punjab Finance Minister Capt
Kanwaljit Singh today announced the Thein dam project had
been completed and would be formally inaugurated by Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on February 12.

Declare
fiscal emergency
in Punjab: AmarinderNEW DELHI, Jan 9  The
Punjab Congress has decided to urge the President
to declare financial emergency in the state. The
state Congress chief, Mr Amarinder Singh, told a
news conference here today that the state unit
had sought an appointment with the President.

Plan to
down-size bureaucracyPATIALA, Jan 9
 The Punjab Government has finalised two proposals
to down-size bureaucracy and impose a 15 per cent cut on
non-Plan expenditure to tide over the present financial
crisis.

150
Dalits raped in SAD rule: BSPBATHINDA, Jan 9
 Mr Avtar Singh Karimpuri, General Secretary, BSP,
Punjab, today said after the installation of the SAD-BJP
government in the state about 150 Dalit women had been
raped.

Fears
on mid-term poll allayedMOGA, Jan 9 
The Union Industry Minister, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal,
today said there was no possibility of mid-term elections
in the country.

Punjab
best "investors' destination"JALANDHAR, Jan 9
 Punjab was declared as the best
investors destination in the country,
at the seminar "Investment opportunities for
Non-Resident Indians" in Punjab, here today.

Gang
of dacoits bustedKAPURTHALA, Jan 9
 The police here claims to have busted an
inter-district gang of dacoits involved in about 60
dacoities.

CHANDIGARH, Jan 9 
For the feuding Akalis another issue has emerged. Now the
bone of contention is the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial
Commission.

The Punjab Chief Minister,
Mr Parkash Singh Badal, is busy consulting legal experts
to defend his action to remove the Chairman and two
members of the commission and come out with a strong
case. The SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who
thought that there was now another good stick to beat Mr
Badal with, consulted lawyers and who finally moved the
Punjab and Haryana High Court. But much more important
was his effort to have a letter signed by 92 members of
the SGPC requesting Mr Badal to withdraw the
notification.

Meanwhile, in Amritsar,
the newly appointed members have already taken charge of
the commission.

The Government in a
statement here said. "The State Government of Punjab
is well within its jurisdiction and powers under Section
70 of the Sikh Gurdwara, Act 1925. Subsequent to the
Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the Central Government
has itself, in exercise of its powers, has vested the
power of appointment and removal of members of the
commission upon the Punjab Government. The words used in
Section 79 at that time were "State
Government".

These words have been
substituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs Notification
No SOS-13013/2/78-SR dated 19th October, 1978, with words
Punjab Government/the State of Government of
Punjab in Sections 70,71 and 79. Thus the powers to
reconstitute, remove or appoint the members of the
Judicial Commission are specific, legal and within the
jurisdiction of the Punjab Government", it further
said.

Under the provisions of
the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 after its reconstitution, the
Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is to submit a list of
the names of seven persons nominated by it and the
Government of the State of Punjab after being satisfied
that the persons are qualified as required by Section 70
is to appoint two members out of the list.

The list of seven names
was submitted by the present Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee authorities to the Punjab Government and by
exercising its power under the Act, the Government has
selected and appointed two members of the Judicial
Commission out of the list. The third member of the
commission has been appointed by the State Government at
its own under the provision of the Act. Hence, the Punjab
Government has not acted at its own, the commission has
been reconstituted in a normal way of functioning of the
Government.

But a former Advocate
General, Mr G.S Grewal, contended that this notification
quoted by the Government itself is against the statute
"The Punjab Reorganisation Act itself lays down that
the Sikh Gurdwara Act and Panjab University Act would be
central corporate bodies. The Centre cannot by way a mere
notification vest powers in one State Government since a
specific Act concerns other States. The basic Act has to
be amended. We are challenging this", he said.

The letter from 92 out of
a total of 185 members of SPGC chided Mr Badal for
following the steps of Congress Chief Ministers like the
late Mr Partap Singh Kairon and Mr Darbara Singh by
interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs.
"This decision would be a blot on the name of a
Panthic government. Akalis have always fought against the
interference of the Government in the gurdwara and they
always succeeded in forcing the Government to rescind its
decisions", the letter said.

The contention of the
Government is that it has chosen two members from the
list of seven submitted by the SGPC and selected just one
on its own. "Those who signed the letter are
forgetting that this government is led by an Akali Dal
President and all these SGPC members were allotted
tickets to contest the election by him alone. Also, the
power to appoint members and also to hold elections are
vested in the Government", a senior Minister, who
did not wish to be quoted, said.

PATIALA, Jan 9 
Punjab Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh today
announced the Thein dam project had been completed and
would be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee on February 12.

Stating this to The
Tribune after inaugurating the three-day second
international conference on South Asian languages at
Punjabi University here, he said the project had been
completed at a cost of Rs 3,200 crore.

The minister said the
project, which was originally proposed to cost Rs 65
crore, had been completed after a concerted effort by the
Akali-BJP government which had made major budgetary
allocations for it.

"It was my intention
to ensure hasty completion of the Thein dam project. With
this in mind, a sum of Rs 750 crore was allocated in the
last financial year and Rs 550 crore in the present year.
With the completion of the project, the irrigation needs
of Amritsar and Gurdaspur would be met and 600 mw of
electricity produced", he said.

The minister, who leaves
today for London on a private visit, said he would visit
the Thein dam site on January 16 along with the Chief
Secretary and Secretary, Irrigation, to inspect
arrangements for the inaugural ceremony.

The dam would be filled
with the start of the monsoon season and start generating
power by September.

Earlier, speaking at the
conference, Capt Kanwaljit Singh said all languages
mentioned in the eighth Schedule of the Constitution
should be given equal opportunity to be developed as
national languages.

He urged the scholars to
deliberate on different aspects of language planning and
development and suggest means and ways to develop South
Asian Languages.

Delivering the keynote
address on the future of linguistics, Dr Probal Das Gupta
of the University of Hyderabad said departments of
languages were disappearing. He called for reintroducing
linguistic studies in literature departments and its
teaching at the elementary level.

Welcoming the guests and
delegates, Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor, Dr
Joginder Singh Puar, himself a renowned linguist, said
the university was among the first in India to establish
the Department of Anthropological Linguistics with the
aim of making a scientific study of languages. He said
this department had done pioneering job in the field of
linguistics, particularly in the field of scientific
study of Punjabi language.

Prof Hans H. Hock from
Illinois University, USA, in his presidential remarks,
highlighted the need for such conferences where
linguistic problems regarding South Asian languages were
discussed in detail. Dr Chanchal Singh, Head, Department
of Anthropological Linguistics and Punjabi Language,
spoke on the aims, objectives and programmes of the
conference.

PATIALA, Jan 9  The
Punjab Government has finalised two proposals to
down-size bureaucracy and impose a 15 per cent cut on
non-Plan expenditure to tide over the present financial
crisis.

Talking to the Tribune in
an interview here today, Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit
Singh said both proposals had been discussed in detail
and finalised. These would be put up before the Cabinet
for approval in a few days.

The Finance Minister said
it had been decided to reduce the size of the bureaucracy
as 65 per cent of the total revenue was being spent on
pay, pension and allowances. Moreover, even in the Plan
expenditure for development programmes, there was a 40
per cent component of salaries and allowances. He,
however, refused to explain how the size of the
bureaucracy would be reduced.

A 15 per cent cut had been
proposed on non-essential expenditure, including petrol
and telephones. "A lot of people, including
ministers, will have to give up certain luxuries",
he said adding the government would stringently curtail
expenditure.

The state government had
urged the Centre to take "definite, corrective
steps" to pull the state out of the current
recession." It is only then that excise and other
revenue will increase substantially", he said.

Attempts were afoot to
improve tax collection. Laxity by the previous Congress
regime had reduced revenue from taxes drastically.
"While the adjoining states show an increase of 15
per cent every year normally, the Congress government was
able to register an increase of slightly above 1 per cent
in the last two years of its rule," he said.

"I have succeeded in
bringing up the revenue collection by 9.8 per cent in
1997-98 and expect to do better this year."

Presenting the genesis of
the present tight financial position, the Finance
Minister said the Rs 900 crore additional burden put by
the Fifth Pay Commission on the state was responsible for
this. He said the government still had not imposed fresh
taxes but was streamlining its functioning to meet the
problem.

Speaking on reports of
salaries and pension being refused to officials, he said
there had been no default and all dues till December 31
had been cleared. Besides development commitments were
being met. Verbal orders on salaries may have been issued
in some case, he added.

Talking on Budget
proposals for 1999-2000 AD, he said these would be
finalised next month. However, the state government had
learnt informally that the Planning Commission had okayed
an assistance of Rs 2650 crore which was Rs 150 crore
more than last year.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh said
his priorities while framing next year's Budget would be
to lay stress on road building. A sum of Rs 350 crore was
likely to be earmarked for planned roads and Rs 550 crore
for link roads. Besides, stress would be laid on
providing safe drinking water and rural development
projects.

He also announced setting
up of a three-member power tariff commission to decide
power rates in future. The commission, which would
consist of retired judges, would be an autonomous body by
an Act of government and its recommendations would be
mandatory.

NEW DELHI, Jan 9 
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has decided
to urge the President to declare financial emergency in
the State. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Chief,
Mr Amarinder Singh, told a news conference here today
that the state Unit had sought an appointment with the
President for the purpose.

We have written a
letter to the President asking him to invoke Article 360
declaring financial emergency in Punjab since the state
is facing a crisis, Mr Amarinder Singh said adding
the PCC was awaiting for the appointment to submit it.

The Punjab PCC chief said
the Constitution vested in the Centre the power to invoke
the clause both at the national level in the states.
As far as we are concerned there is a case for
declaring financial emergency in Punjab, he said.

He said the Punjab
Government had been raising funds without actually
working out how to return these and considering the
manner in which borrowings were mounting, the state was
heading for a massive indebtedness.

The state Congress charged
the Badal Government with squandering away scarce
resources, pushing up expenditure without corresponding
measures to raise revenue.

He said if the current
drift in the economy was not checked, Punjab could be on
the verge of a major internal crisis since unemployment
was on the rise, farming community suffering on account
of repeated crop loss and hostile neighbours willing to
create disturbance.

The Punjab Finance
Secretary, he said, had now asked the state Treasury to
honouring all cheques and this stood in contrast to the
claim of the Finance Minister that everything was under
control.

Former Rajya Sabha MP,
Surinder Singla, who was also present said despite the
tall claims made by the SAD government, the
Centre had not written-off the loan and as per a document
of the state Finance Department, Rs 6,000 crore were
still outstanding.

GURDASPUR, Jan 9 
Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, senior Congress leader, told
newsmen here today that Mr Parkash Singh Badal has proved
himself as a weak Chief Minister and must quit in view of
the deteriorating financial health of the state. She said
it was sad and unheard of that pensioners were not
getting their due in time because of the wrong policies
of the government.

Mrs Bhinder said it was
unfortunate that the state government has decided to take
loans from public undertakings for running the
government. She warned the Chief Minister that this will
send the public undertakings in the red. This will add to
already mounting problem of unemployment among the youth.

Mrs Bhinder said the
governments decision to divert funds of the Punjab
Marketing Board for running the establishment would
adversely affect the development of the rural areas.
Funds for development in rural areas have already been
stopped.

Mrs Bhinder said the
government has already diverted two instalments of more
than Rs 200 crore of Punjab Health System Corporation. As
a result 151 hospitals under the corporation were not
being developed on the lines promised to the World Bank.
This might lead to stoppage of another two instalments
from the World Bank.

This may also lead to the
stoppage of a loan from the World Bank for four-laning of
strategic roads. She said the Batala Civil Hospital has
received an X-Ray machine of 300 mm, but it was not being
installed as Rs 80,000 allocated for it had not been
released by the corporation.

Mrs Bhinder said promises
made by the SAD-BJP alliance during Assembly and Lok
Sabha elections to uplift the weaker sections of the
society have not been fulfilled. The implementation of
social welfare schemes was tardy and only 10 per cent
eligible old persons had received old age pension so far.
The Chief Ministers announcement for bringing in a
notification for covering Christians under the Shagun
scheme was a mere farce. Not a single Christian has been
benefited under the scheme so far, she said.

Mrs Bhinder said the state
administration has been brought to standstill in view of
infighting going on between Mr Badal and Mr Tohra.

Mrs Bhinder said Mr Badal
is behaving like a Chief Minister of Faridkot and Muktsar
districts only. All development activities were going on
in that area only. She said Mr Badal had spent more than
Rs 1400 crore in these districts.

Regarding the inclusion of
Udham Singh Nagar in proposed Uttaranchal state Mrs
Bhinder said the decision of merger was final and the
delay in the three-member committee, headed by the
Defence Minister, report was a calculated move of Mr
Badal who fears that Mr Tohra might use this stick to
beat him.

Addressing a largely
attended public meetings on the Indo-Pak border and
backward village of Basau Barwan under Pathankot
sub-division in this district, Mrs Bhinder accused Mr
Badal of ignoring development of the area. She reminded
Mr Badal that during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections he
had promised the people to constitute a border
development board for undertaking development of border
areas in the state, not a single step has been taken in
this direction so far.

Mrs Bhinder said election
promises of the SAD-BJP alliance has proved to be hollow
as the government has failed in setting up industry in
the border areas.

Mrs Bhinder criticised
attacks on Christians in Gujarat and said that it was a
conspiracy hatched by fundamentalists with the help of
the BJP government in the state. She warned the Central
and Gujarat Governments to check this unhealthy tendency.

BATHINDA, Jan 9  Mr
Avtar Singh Karimpuri, General Secretary, BSP, Punjab,
today said after the installation of the SAD-BJP
government in the state about 150 Dalit women had been
raped.

Addressing a press
conference here, he said in the past two years about 250
farm labourers belonging to the oppressed classes had
also been killed by the big landlords.

He alleged that the Punjab
Government had miserably failed to check the atrocities
against Scheduled Castes and backward classes. He said
that successive Congress and Akali governments had
exploited the Scheduled Castes and backward classes for
their political ends, but did nothing for their social
security.

When asked how many
murders and rapes had been committed by the people
belonging to Scheduled Castes and backward classes in the
same period, he said that big landlords and other
influential persons made the lower class people to commit
such crimes.

Mr Karimpuri said that the
party was being strengthened in Punjab as its candidate
had polled less votes in the Adampur Assembly
by-election. He said district level workers meetings,
rallies in 85 Assembly segments and a state-level rally
would be held in Punjab.

He said under the 'Apni
Shakti Banao' movement, the workers would be educated
about the treatment being meted out to them by the
successive state as well as Central governments.

He said the BSP would
pressurise the government to enact the Reservation Act,
clear backlog in government jobs, implement the Mandal
Commission report and the SC and ST atrocities Prevention
Act.

He said that the SAD-BJP
Government's economic policies were pro-feudal and pro
big industrialists. He added that the state government
was uprooting the Jhuggi-Jhopri dwellers under the
pressure of big business houses.

Mr Karimpuri said his
party was in favour of celebrating the tercentenary of
Khalsa Panth by those who followed Guru Gobind Singh's,
message of social and economic equality. He said that BSP
President Kanshi Ram should be the chief guest of such
celebrations.

He alleged that private as
well as government owned electronic media was biased
against the Bahujan Samaj Party as it was projecting the
viewpoint of only upper classes.

He pointed out that
episode of killing of a black buck by filmstar Salman
Khan remained on electronic media for days together while
the abortion of three women at Ludhiana due to
administration's high-handedness, was ignored.

MOGA, Jan 9  The
Union Industry Minister, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, today
said there was no possibility of mid-term elections in
the country.

Addressing a gathering at
Dhudike village, after laying the foundation stone of
30-bedded community health centre today, he said certain
leaders were spreading rumours of mid-term elections for
their own political interests.

He claimed that the
BJP-led coalition government at the Centre was stable and
fully prepared to meet any eventuality. He added that the
Central government was also well prepared for the
progress of all states.

Mr Badal said Punjab was
being developed as an industrial state of the country.
About Rs 20000 crore would be invested in the industrial
projects in the coming years in the state. He added that
many new projects were also in the pipeline.

He claimed that Punjab
always progressed during the rule of the Akalis in
Punjab. He alleged that during the Congress regime, no
big project was set up in the state. Moreover, the
Congress Government at the Centre always discriminated
against Punjab in matter of industries, employment and
development.

He said the SAD candidate
was defeated in Adampur by-election due to rise in the
prices of essential commodities. He claimed that Punjabis
were still with the SAD like a rock.

He said there was no
financial crises in the Punjab Government. He also
expressed his disappointment on the attacks on Christians
in Gujarat.

JALANDHAR, Jan 9 
Punjab was declared as the best investors
destination in the country, at the seminar
"Investment opportunities for Non-Resident
Indians" in Punjab, here today.

Speaking at the seminar
organised by the NRI Sabha, Mr Ramesh Inder Singh,
Principal Secretary, said incentives given by the state
government, such as the allotment of industrial plots
within one month on assessing the NRI project is viable
and bankable, single window system, sales tax exemption
up to 10 years, and lower power tariff make Punjab the
best investors destination in the country.

To safeguard the
properties of NRIs the state government has amended laws.
Now an NRI can evict illegal tenants from his urban and
rural property, by summary trials, he said.

Addressing over 100 NRIs
today, the Principal Secretary assured transparency and
support in the form of speedy clearance to NRI projects.

The chief guest, President
of the Dandee Mutual funds, a $ 6 billion Canadian
company, Mr Terence Ruie, said the company would be
starting three funds in the country, and would invest in
safe viable commercial ventures in the country, The
Dandee company is into mining, power and mutual funds.

KAPURTHALA, Jan 9 
The police here claims to have busted an inter-district
gang of dacoits involved in about 60 dacoities.

Senior Superintendent of
Police Iqbal Singh said here today that 11 members of the
gang had been arrested and the police had seized gold
ornaments and cash worth Rs 3 lakh from their possession.
He said the gang, consisting of 25 to 30 members, had
committed nearly 60 dacoities in Kapurthala, Tarn Taran;
Jalandhar, Ferozepore and Moga districts.

Detailing the arrest of
the dacoits, the SSP said on information that some armed
persons had taken a refuge near the uninhabited area of
the proposed Science City at Wadala railway crossing with
plan to commit a dacoity yesterday, the police raided the
place and arrested 11 dacoits. Three members of the gang,
however, managed to flee under the cover of darkness.

The police seized three
countrymade pistols along with cartridges, three swords,
three "gandasis" and iron rods from the men.

The SSP said the members
had confessed to having looted jewellery and cash worth
Rs 25 to 30 lakh in 60 dacoities. He said the police
parties had been despatched to apprehend other members of
the gang, including its leader Nawab, resident of Kaila
under police station Dharamkot.

The SSP said the gang
leader and two other members Anayet and Mukhtiar Singh,
both residents of Ferozepore district, had already been
declared proclaimed offenders by the police.

The police had solved four
dacoities committed by the gang in the Sultanpurlodhi
area.

ABOHAR, Jan 9 
Seventyfive persons were found suffering from leprosy in
Ferozepore district during the current year, 50 of them
migrant labourers.

This was stated by the
Deputy Commissioner, Mr Gurdev Singh Sidhu, at a
district-level function held under the National Leprosy
Eradication Programme at DAV Auditorium here today.

Mr Sidhu said Punjab would
be able to eradicate leprosy by 2000 AD. There was a need
to bring about awareness at the grassroots level about
the disease. Educational institutions could cooperate
more in making the campaign a success, he said.

The Lions Club, Innerwheel
Club, Rotary Club (Midtown), Bharat Vikas Parishad,
Social Welfare Society and Mahila Dakshta Samiti worked
together for todays function, but Block Development
Officers could not manage the presence of sarpanches and
panches.

Civil Surgeon Dr V.K.
Bassi and District Leprosy Officer G.S. Dhillon spoke on
the symptoms and treatment of leprosy. A declamation,
painting and slogan writing competitions were held for
students. Dr Bassi gave away prizes which were sponsored
by the Lions Club (Abohar Greater) and Mandi (Abohar).

JALANDHAR, Jan 9 
The first NRI Sports Festival concluded at the PAP
grounds, with great fanfare here today. NRI teams
promised to participate in more disciplines next time.

Teams from the USA,
Canada, England and India, participated in wrestling,
tug-of-war, kabbadi and weight lifting competitions. A
women's hockey match was held between California (USA)
and Punjab State Electricity Board. None of the teams
could score a goal.

The vice-chairman of the
organising committee, Dr GS Aujla, Inspector General,
Jalandhar zone while speaking at the closing ceremony
said the NRI sports festival was an initiative to bring
the second generation Indians settled abroad, closer to
their roots. "Such festivals will be held every
year", he added.

PATIALA, Jan 9  The
state unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has
urged the government to drop the proposal of a Nursing
Home Registration Act and reconstitute a Punjab Medical
Council instead and take effective steps to end quackery
in the state.

Dr O.P. Singh Kande,
Chairman of the legal cell of the state IMA unit, in a
letter to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family
Welfare urged for reconsideration of the matter of
registration of nursing homes in the state by passing an
act.

Dr Kande said the Punjab
IMA was of the view that there was no need to bring such
an act as all qualified doctors were registered and their
practice was regulated under the Punjab Medical
Registration Act, 1916, and the Medical Council of India
Act, 1956.

He said these acts
provided ample powers to the council and the government
to take action against any body providing below standard
medical services and indulging in malpractices. The
quacks could be forced to stop their practice under the
existing rules. Practice by allopathic doctors and
running of nursing homes could be regulated by
strengthening the respective councils.

Dr Kande has proposed that
the government should immediately reconstitute the Punjab
Medical Council and give powers to the council to
regulate the working of nursing homes in the state.

MOGA, Jan 9  Many
pensioners and also certain government employees here
today complained that their payments had been held up by
Treasury when they visited these offices for the purpose.
Stating this here today president, Punjab pensioners
association Hardev Singh said that following reported
directions from the state government to stop all payments
with immediate effect.

Although no such statement
had been issued by the authorities in this respect Mr
Hardev Singh also urged the government to make immediate
and proper arrangements for the payment of salary and
pension.

Residents of this town
including businessmen, lecturers, government employees
and others today condemned the directive of the Civil and
Supplies Department asking them to submit forms and
ration cards to this department along with a photograph
of their family members including young girls and married
women if they wanted to get their quota of their ration
of essential commodities through government fair price
shops.

Many of them today asked
the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and
also the Civil Supplies Minister to intervene otherwise
they would launch a statewide agitation if this directive
was not withdrawn.

AMRITSAR, Jan 9 
Principal secretary Health and Family Planning Punjab,
Rajesh Chhabra said that a civil hospital with modern
amenities being built at a cost of Rs 8 crore, would be
complete by June this year. The Principal Secretary added
that the World Bank had also made available to the Punjab
Health Systems Corporation Rs 4 crore for sophisticated
equipment for hospitals here to provide better health
care.

The government had added
an intensive care unit at civil hospital at Jalandhar
recently and laparoscopic equipment provided at Jalandhar
and Ludhiana for better facilities in government
hospitals in the state.

Mr Chhabra stated this
while inaugurating a five-bed intensive care unit of Mata
Kaulanji mission hospital, charitable institution here.
He lauded the role of charitable organisations. The ICU
was donated by Mr Amar Singh Chawalwala to the hospital .
Honorary director of the hospital and former DRME Dr
Balwant Singh Tung complimented the management.

HOSHIARPUR, Jan 9 
Resentment prevails among local industrialists against
the Forest Department for recently serving them a notice
under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

The department, through
the notice, has charged them with illegally using the
forest land adjoining the mainroad for passage to their
units. Besides, they had constructed gates of their units
adjoining to its land without taking permission from the
department, thus violating the Forest Conservation Act,
1980, the notice says. The department has instructed them
to take permission from it for this purpose within 15
days, failing which legal proceedings would be initiated
against them.

Mr Chander Mohan Puri,
president of the Factory Owners Association of Nasrala
belt, told this correspondent here yesterday that the
department had only served notices to the industrialists
overlooking hundreds of other commercial and residential
units existing on roads which, too, came under the
protected forests land. He urged the authorities to
withdraw the notice.

JALALABAD, Jan 9 
The police here has arrested a person posing as a civil
judge.

An FIR lodged by Pritam
Singh of Tinda Wali village with the police said that a
person living in the village waterworks for the past four
months had been describing himself as H.S. Daliwal, a PCS
civil judge, posted at Ropar. He also allegedly cheated
villagers of their money by saying that he would get
their work done using his position.

The complainant told the
police that the said person used to wear black coat and
black tie and also carried an identity card.

Following the complaint,
the police raided the suspect's house and arrested him.
The person disclosed his identity as Harial Singh son of
Rattan Singh and resident of Veroke village near
Baghapurana in Moga district. The police has registered a
case.

KHANNA, Jan 9  Post
office savings agents are in a fix for the past 10 days
due to the wrong policies of the Central
Government.

The Finance Ministry
issued orders in the last week of December to all states
to stop the work of small savings in post offices from
January 1 this year as the rates of interest and the
terms of fixed deposits in post offices were to be
revised.

The Finance Ministry has
reportedly decided to reduce the rates of interest and
increase the term for fixed deposits. The amount interest
in Kisan Vikas Patras (KVPs) and the Indira Vikas Patras
(IVPs) which previously doubled in five-and-half years,
but will now double after six years. The rate of interest
on National Savings Certificates (NSCs) has also been
reduced.

Work relating to small
savings will resume at the Head Post Office here within a
week after fresh stationery and other material has been
published.

The suspension of savings
work here has caused a loss of crores to the Punjab
Finance Department.

AMRITSAR, Jan 9  The
Punjab Government is planning to revamp the functioning
of the once prestigious Dr Vidya Sagar Mental Hospital
here. The Principal Secretary, health and Family
Planning, Mr Rajesh Chhabra, while talking to this
correspondent last evening, said the department was
considering to raise the daily diet money from the
present Rs 25 to Rs 50 for giving the over 400 patients a
well-balanced and nutritious food.

Earlier, the government
was giving only Rs 8, which was a pittance and could
barely meet the food requirements of patients.

About the report submitted
by the Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Government
Medical College here, for handing over the mental
hospital to the college, Mr Chhabra pointed that it was
being examined. He, however, felt that it was not
possible for the college to manage the hospital with over
400 patients.

Sometime ago, the Punjab
Human Rights Commission had appointed a team to look into
the working of the hospital, where many patients had been
rendered blind due to the 'apathetic' approach of the
doctors.

BATHINDA, Jan 9  The
internal organisational elections of the Janata Dal would
be held in March and April, 1999, in all states, Mr Vipan
Kumar, member of the national council of the Janata Dal,
said in a press note issued here today.

He said the new membership
drive would be launched in Punjab before the elections.

BATHINDA, Jan 9  The
Punjab Government Pensioners Welfare Association today
condemned the imposition of undeclared ban on the payment
of salaries and pensions to all treasuries by the Punjab
government on January 6.

In a press note issued
here, Mr Kishan Singh, General Secretary of the
association, alleged that for the past two months, the
pensioners were facing inconvenience to get pensions.

He pointed out that
pension was the only means for the pensioners to make
their ends meet. He said that the Punjab government
should make it sure that in future no such ban be imposed
on the payment of salaries and pensions.

BATALA, Jan 9  The
police today solved two murder cases with the arrest of
three persons.

Mr Lok Nath Angra,
district police Chief, Batala, said the suspects 
Krishan Kumar, a resident of Santokh Rai, Krishan
Kishore, a resident of Bihar and Naresh Kumar, a resident
of Uttar Pradesh  were arrested by a naka party
near the drain bridge in Kalanaur police station. One
country-made pistol and some ammunition were also found
from their possession. Mr Lok Nath said the culprits
confessed that they had killed Leela Wanti last year with
a bat and took away Rs 10,000 and valuable clothes etc.
They also killed Joginderpal at Santokh Rai village on
December 31.

They two are Hardev Singh
and Davinder Singh. Explanation of their seniors has also
been called for.

Mr Sandhu warned the
employees of the corporation to perform their duty
regularly, failing which serious action would be taken
against them. He also instructed all officers of the
corporation to conduct daily surprise checks to ensure
punctuality and regularity.

CHANDIGARH, Jan 9  A
poster-making competition on AIDS awareness was organised
by the Government College of Education with the Panjab
University branch of the State Bank of India on the
college campus, here today.

CHANDIGARH, Jan 9 
The Senior Citizens (Pensioners) Council, SAS Nagar, in a
press note here today said pensioners were being denied
pension despite claims of the Finance department that it
had not issued any instructions to the Treasury to stop
payment.

"The attitude of the
Panjab Government towards its senior citizens is callous
and cruel, especially when 1999 has been declared as year
for Welfare of old people", it added.